The Gospel of Mark - Part 13
I. The Setting
Exactly where Jesus taught cannot be said for sure, but a possible location is a natural amphitheater situated halfway between Capernaum and Tabgha to the south where the land slopes gently down to a lovely bay. Israeli scientists have verified that the “Bay of Parables” can transmit a human voice effortlessly to several thousand people on shore
PARABLE (מָשָׁ֑ל, mashal; παραβολή, parabolē). A story or saying that illustrates a truth using comparison, hyperbole, or simile. Can be a model, analogy, or example.
παραβολή parabolē 50× a placing one thing by the side of another
II. The Sower
III. The Seed
IV. The Soils
If Pharaoh had realized how hard his heart was, he would have been terrified. The Egyptians believed that the heart was the essence of the person and thus the key to eternal life. Many of their temples and tombs depict a heart being weighed on the scales of justice. The meaning of this image is explained in “The Book of the Dead” found at the Palace of Anubis, in which a man named Ani enters the throne room of the gods for judgment. At the front stands the balance of truth on which the death-god Anubis will weigh the dead man’s heart. Anubis is joined by Thoth, who will record the verdict, and by the goddess Amemit, who waits to devour the hearts of the damned.
Like every false form of worship, ancient Egyptian religion was based on the principle of works-righteousness, but it also contained echoes of Biblical truth. There will indeed be a final judgment, in which every human heart will be weighed against the righteousness of God. If that is true, then what will become of a hard-hearted man like Pharaoh? According to the Egyptians, such a man could never be saved. A man with a hard, heavy heart would be weighed in the balance and found wanting. The weight of his sins would drag him down to destruction.